Bitter: mar/marah, adjective, (Strong’s 4751).
Root: מַר
When I think of the word “bitter”, my mind immediately goes to the first tongue twister I memorised as a child, titled, The Butter Betty Bought:
Betty Botta bought some butter;
“But,” said she, “this butter’s bitter!
If I put it in my batter
It will make my batter bitter.
But a bit o’ better butter
Will but make my batter better.”
Then she bought a bit o’ butter
Better than the bitter butter,
Made her bitter batter better.
So ’twas better Betty Botta
Bought a bit o’ better butter.
The Jingle Book, Carolyn Wells.
Bitter Food, Bitter People
Although it is this rhyme that comes to my mind, most people probably think of certain foods, like grapefruit, dandelion greens, radishes, or arugula. The ancient Hebrew people also associated bitterness with food, pointing out that, “to a hungry person any bitter [mar מַ֥ר] thing is sweet” (Proverbs 27:7).
Bitter water was also an issue for the Hebrew people who wandered in the desert after their escape from Egypt:
Exodus 15:22-25
Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah [Maratah מָרָ֔תָה], they could not drink the waters of Marah [mi-Marah מִמָּרָ֔ה], because they were bitter [marim מָרִ֖ים]; for that reason it was named Marah [מָרָֽה]. So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” Then he cried out to YHWH, and YHWH showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet.
Bitter food and bitter water was an issue but the word mar (bitter) was more frequently used to describe people’s feelings or reactions. David and his warriors were described as, “embittered souls [u-marey nefesh וּמָרֵ֥י נֶ֙פֶשׁ֙], like a bear deprived of her cubs in the field” (2 Samuel 17:8), indicating a desperate fierceness.
A deep seeded bitterness often came with tears. When Esau learned he had been tricked out of his birthright inheritance, by his brother, “he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter [u-marah וּמָרָ֖ה] cry” (Genesis 27:34). When Mordecai learned about the plot to annihilate the Jews, he “wailed loudly and bitterly [u-marah וּמָרָֽה]” (Esther 4:1). Hannah grieved over her inability to conceive a child. In “bitterness of soul [mirat nefesh מָ֣רַת נָ֑פֶשׁ]” Hannah prayed to YHWH “and wept in anguish” (1 Samuels 1:10).
In times of great trial, “ambassadors of peace weep bitterly” [mar מַ֖ר] (Isaiah 33:7) and “the warrior cries out bitterly” [mar מַ֥ר] (Zephaniah 1:14).
Understandably, people’s challenging life experiences sometimes made them bitter. Job suffered more than most and he talked about his bitterness quite frankly:
Job 3:20-21
[Job:] “Why is light given to one burdened with grief, and life to the bitter soul [l-marey nafesh לְמָ֣רֵי נָֽפֶשׁ], who long for death, but there is none, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures?…”
Job 7:11
[Job:] “I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitternessof my soul [b-mar naf’shi בְּמַ֣ר נַפְשִֽׁי] .”
Job 10:1
[Job:] “I am disgusted with my own life; I will express my complaint freely; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul [b-mar naf’shi בְּמַ֣ר נַפְשִֽׁי].”
Job 21:23-26
[Job:] “One dies in his full strength, being wholly undisturbed and at ease; His sides are filled with fat, and the marrow of his bones is wet, while another dies with a bitter soul [b-nefesh marah בְּנֶ֣פֶשׁ מָרָ֑ה], never even tasting anything good. Together they lie down in the dust, and maggots cover them.”
Job was overwhelmed with the loss of his children, his horrific and debilitating health status, his loss of property and possessions, and the poverty that would result. He felt he had little to live for; his soul was at a bitter end.
Isaiah recognized that it wasn’t God who brought the bitterness but rather the actions of others:
Isaiah 5:20-23
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter [mar מַ֛ר] for sweet and sweet for bitter [l-mar לְמָֽר]!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight!
Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing intoxicating drink, who declare the wicked innocent for a bribe, and take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!
Isaiah also felt the bitterness in his soul, but he celebrated that YHWH would save him from dwelling in bitterness:
Isaiah 38:15-20
“What shall I say? For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it; I will walk quietly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul [mar naf’shi מַ֥ר נַפְשִֽׁי]
Lord, by these things people live, and in all these is the life of my spirit; restore me to health and let me live!
Behold, for my own welfare I had bitter bitterness [mar li mar מַר־לִ֣י מָ֑ר]; but You have kept my soul from the pit of nothingness, for You have hurled all my sins behind Your back. For Sheol cannot thank You, death cannot praise You; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today; a father tells his sons about Your faithfulness. YHWH is certain to save me; so we will play my songs on stringed instruments all the days of our life at the house of YHWH.”
Although David had many reasons to be bitter (the loss of some of his children, the rebelliousness of some of his other children, the continuous threat of war), he turned his bitterness into something positive. He had a hopeful relationship with YHWH, his God. As a result, he became a leader for the distressed, the indebted, and the embittered:
1 Samuel 22:1-2
[After being pursued by Saul…] David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s household heard about it, they went down there to him. Then everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented bitter of soul [mar nefesh מַר־ נֶ֔פֶשׁ] gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him.
David became a champion for the marginalized. This was a political upset. The poor, the needy, and the socially weak united under a leader they could get behind. Their hope was centered on the idea of turning their bitter experiences into joy under David’s command.
Although David brought great hope as “the people’s king”, he could not ensure lasting peace. It would take YHWH’s Anointed One to deliver such a gift.
Babylon brings Bitterness
Before the Messiah would come, Israel would fall to their most formidable enemies, the Babylonians. Ezekiel, along with many other prophets, spoke of the fallout of the Babylonian attack against them:
Ezekiel 27:30-32
”And they will make their voice heard over you and cry out bitterly [marah מָרָ֑ה]. They will throw dust on their heads, they will wallow in ashes.
Also they will shave themselves bald for you and put on sackcloth; and they will weep for you in bitterness of soul [b-mar nefesh בְּמַר־ נֶ֖פֶשׁ] with bitter [mar מָֽר] mourning.
Moreover, in their wailing they will take up a song of mourning for you and sing a song of mourning over you…”
The word bitter was, not surprisingly, used frequently to describe the era of the Babylonian invasion and upheaval. The Babylonians (aka the Chaldeans) were described as bitter enemies:
Habakkuk 1:6-7
[YHWH:] “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, the grim bitter [ha-mar הַמַּ֣ר] and impetuous people who march throughout the earth, to take possession of dwelling places that are not theirs. They are terrifying and feared; their justice and authority originate with themselves.”
Jeremiah was direct in pointing out that the Israelites had brought this bitter Babylonian trial upon themselves:
Jeremiah 4:18
[Regarding Jerusalem:] “Your ways and your deeds have brought these things upon you. This is your evil. How bitter [mar מָ֔ר]! How it has touched your heart!”
Jeremiah 2:17-19
“Have you not done this to yourself by your abandoning YHWH your God when He led you in the way? But now what are you doing on the road to Egypt, except to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what are you doing on the road to Assyria, except to drink the waters of the Euphrates River?
Your own wickedness will correct you, and your apostasies will punish you; know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter [wa-mar וָמָ֔ר] for you to abandon YHWH your God, and the fear of Me is not in you,” declares the Lord YHWH of armies.
Once the Israelites experienced bitter defeat by the Babylonians, they were quickly bound up and sent into exile:
Lamentations 1:3-4
Judah has gone into exile out of affliction and harsh servitude; she lives among the nations, but she has not found a resting place; all those who pursued her have overtaken her in the midst of distress.
The roads of Zion are in mourning because no one comes to an appointed feast. All her gates are deserted; her priests groan, her virgins are worried, and as for Zion herself, it is bitter [mar מַר] for her.
Women Named Bitter: Mara/Miriam/Mary
It would be a miss if we did not talk about the relationship between the word bitter and the following personal names: Mara, Miriam, Mary.
In the story of Ruth, Naomi attempted to rename herself Mara:
Ruth 1:19-21
So they both went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was stirred because of them, and the women said, “Is this Naomi?” But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara [מָרָ֔א], for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly [hey-mar הֵמַ֥ר] with me. I went away full, but YHWH has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since YHWH has testified against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?”
The name of Moses’ sister, Miriam (Mir’yam), came from the root of the word, mara (bitter). Miriam, a prophetess, certainly experienced much bitterness in her life. She lived during the years of the baby boy executions in Egypt. She watched her baby brother be scooped up by Egyptian royalty. After their escape from Egypt she wandered in the desert with the Hebrew people, a harsh and bitter way to live. Miriam also suffered with leprosy. Although she could have been a poster-child for bitterness, she is best known for singing and dancing to celebrate their deliverance from slavery and into freedom by the grace of God.
In the New Testament (B’rit Chadashah), our English translations call the mother of Yeshua, Mary. In the Greek, however, it is Mariam, sometimes shortened to Maria.
Today is Mother’s Day. Mariam (Mary), the mother of Yeshua, carried the bitterness of all mothers who have lost their children.
It’s interesting to note that all the Mary’s of the New Testament were associated with the bitterness of losing a child, a brother, a friend, or living during a time of great risk of persecution:
- Mary of Bethany watched her brother Lazarus die (and be resurrected)
- Mary the mother of Yeshua suffered by watching her son be brutally executed
- Mary Magdalen watched her rabbi and friend suffer and die in a public execution
- Mary of Clopas watched her rabbi and friend suffer and die in a public execution
- Mary the mother of James the Younger also watched her rabbi and friend suffer and die
- Mary, the mother of John Mark, ran a church out of her home, which was risky during the time of Roman occupation
- Mary of Rome, a supporter of Paul, lived as a Christian during the time of Roman persecution
These women had every right to be bitter (like their name suggested), but their faith helped them overcome whatever bitterness they were burdened with.
Proverbs 14:10a
The heart knows its own bitterness [marrat מָרַּ֣ת]…
Be honest with yourself. Is your heart bitter? Do you dwell in bitterness? Or do you have the hope to believe in the grace of God?
Just like when the bitter waters became sweet, in the wilderness wandering story, it is through the bitterness of death that we are saved to eternal life. Life on earth may be bitter, but life with YHWH will always be sweet.
Next week: FORTY
Hebrew Word Lessons 